Claude Puel's future looks set to be decided in the next week, in the meantime we take a look at who might be the next manager at St Mary's in the eyes of the bookies.

It is not surprising who is the favourite for the Saints managers hot seat. Marco Silva is 6/4 due mainly to plenty of media speculation that he has already been approached about taking over from Claude Puel and the wheels are in motion.

But the next few candidates are a little more surprising, second favourite is Eddie Howe with odds of 17/2, he has had another strong season with Bournemouth and achieved the same number of points as Saints with a far smaller squad and one of supposed lesser quality.

Whether Howe would want the job though is another matter, on one hand he will know that he has probably taken Bournemouth as far as he can, they do not have the resources to go much higher, on the other whilst a club of the stature of Saints would be a logical step for him, it would be one that would alienate him from a large section of the Cherries support who see Saints as their rivals.

Joint third favourites are Claudio Ranieri and Unai Emery both at 9/1, Ranieri is currently not with any club after his shock sacking from Leicester City and is known to want to stay in the Premier League whilst Emery is still at Paris Saint Germain, but is rumoured to be on his way after PSG failed to win the French Ligue 1 title and went out of the Champions League after losing a 4-0 lead from the first leg against Barcelona and crashing 6-1 in Spain.

After that you are looking at the usual suspects named in every club's list when a vacancy comes up, Alan Pardew 11/1, Roy Hodgson 12/1, although Frank De Boer a strong candidate back in the summer before joining Inter Milan and currently unemployed is a good bet at 33/1.

All the signs from St Mary's have not been very positive for Claude Puel with Ralph Krueger instead of backing his manager stating that an internal review would be taking place and if the rumours of dressing room discontent are true it is hard to see the Frenchman keeping his job.

Photo: Action Images

richsaints added 15:23 - May 22 Don't want too get carried away we might still be stuck with puel but my own personal feeling would be to go for Eddie Howe bright young English manager plays the game exactly the way saints want to play and as you pointed out must be wondering what more can he do at Bournemouth .
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highfield49 added 15:52 - May 22 Considering the disastrous end to the season that Hull have just had I'd be amazed if Silva was considered a suitable candidate for the potential, but not yet available, vacancy. Whilst he has a strong cv I don't think that is anywhere near enough reason to consider him as a manager capable of moving the team forward. I think the same can be said for most of the other bookies favourites. Whilst we are nowhere close to being a top club it was interesting to note that Guardiola said recently that he would have probably been sacked at any other of the big clubs in Europe if he had performed as he has since joining Man City. The gulf in expectation is massive and anyone thinking that we should be looking to join the elite needs to seriously think again. Should Puel leave my choice would be the appointment of De Boer or Ranieri purely to raise the club's profile rather than any expectation that they could actually gain much more in terms of league position. The difference to me would be that we would play with more flair, fluidity and energy and that would lift the supporters out of their frustration.

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LordDZLucan added 16:09 - May 22 Bournemouth Nett transfer spend last 5 seasons = £52,070,000; Southampton Nett transfer spend last 5 seasons = £39,250,000! Why would Eddie Howe come to us when he's given more money to spend on players at Bournemouth?
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redandwhitedee added 16:14 - May 22 I am not in favour of ditching the manager after only one season, when he didn't exactly fail. But if we do eventually replace him, the man for me who would bring goals experience desire, and maybe a point to prove, would be Brendan Rodgers. Unfortunately just signed a new contract, but what's a piece of paper worth these days..
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SaintPaulVW added 16:36 - May 22 I suspect that following the review there will be changes underneath, possibly EB to get put to the sword. Just can't see a highly commercial/Penny pinching*(delete as appropriate) board letting a cheap manager go who finished eighth, got to Wembley and who did better in the Europa league than his predecessor in his first season in the EPL. However, who knows, if there is a change, Howe or Emery are probably safe steps up, the others a total gamble. Which would be out of character.

2

Chesham_Saint added 16:49 - May 22 This is just so depressing. Howe is happy and will wait to move to a bigger club (Everton maybe when Konman fecks off to Barca) so won't come to us. As for the rest, with the exception of de Boer none inspire and I'd rather stick with Puel.
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dixiefrog added 17:29 - May 22 Firstly Claude Puel should stay, Black should go and Radhi Jaidi promoted to Assistant Manager. If that doesn't happen then I can see the Board having honey poured in their ears by David Moyes, contentious I know but wait and see.
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DanHarper added 17:30 - May 22 Moyes is a free agent again.....
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dixiefrog added 17:33 - May 22 The cogs are turning, only a matter of time before Moyes is the new Saints Boss.
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bigrob68 added 17:49 - May 22 Claudio Ranieri
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aceofthebase added 18:15 - May 22 It's bleedin obvious that we MUST stick with Puel. None of the names mentioned here would want to come and get heckled by our fickle fans. Howe no chance, Moyes never, Brendan rogers never, Ranieri never, Silva never. Come on Saints fans get behind your team and manager
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petedoors1 added 18:24 - May 22 Oh dear it looks like it is David Moyes.
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bstokesaint added 18:45 - May 22 Ah it's deja-vous. Exactly where we were last season, only the fans are doing the sacking and it's not officially happened! Even if it does happen it's the same totally uninspiring candidate list as last time around. There is very little to suggest that any of the names mentioned would take the club forward. If we're serious about becoming a European regular then that rules out the British candidates. So that just leaves the candidates that have been sacked from elsewhere for failure of some description. At least with Poch he was a manager on the up. And Koeman was a gamble with a chequered management career, which was largely forgotten because of his high profile in the game generally. Our delusional sense of entitlement is becoming a little embarrassing.

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SaintBrock added 20:33 - May 22 The owner is here so a full board meeting in the morning (today that is) can be anticipated. Puel will likely be asked to make a presentation on the season and for sure will be questioned on matters such as alleged dressing room unrest and hopefully any failed expectations. No decision will be made in front of him obviously. Any outcomes from the board meeting will be passed to Reed to implement so expect his meeting with Puel to be on Tuesday morning. If we hear nothing by 3.00pm Tuesday we may safely assume that Puel will be staying. If he stays then the PR team are going to have to move into top gear to explain 'why' to fans so that'll likely take another day of drafting and re-drafting. In this case news will be leaked out or passed off on the OS, even Les is not daft enough to make a big thing of Puel staying when he knows the majority of fans want rid of him. As for who might replace Puel should he be asked to leave or quit, you may also safely assume that they won't have haven't given it a second's thought. Les Reed and Ralph Kreuger are slogan managers, there is no thinking and no depth behind anything they say in public, just headlines crafted by PR people to catch the eye of the scandal-mongering tabloids. As written before, I feel Puel's position is untenable.

4

welhamdowed added 06:33 - May 23 Moyes or Hodgson, instead of Puel. That's a tough one. The football won't be much different I guess. I'm truly not bothered either way if he stays or goes, but you can't argue with the finishing position or cup final appearance. To be fair to Puel injuries and poor player form, especially the creative players, like Tadic, Boufal and Redmond have not helped his cause.

2

schatfield added 08:35 - May 23 Put a few quid on it being Moyes....I reckon you might be surprised and the odds are still good
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dirk_doone added 11:10 - May 23 There is no way Eddie Howe will take orders from Les Reed so we can forget him and most other decent managers who'll want control of team affairs. Only someone with no other options will agree to Les Reed's conditions.
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GeordieSaint added 11:12 - May 23 Anyone who thinks Silva didn't do a good job wasn't paying attention. They were the worst team in the league before Christmas and then sold their best two players. The lads they got in on loan were all clearly Silva signings and generally did well, as well as this the younger players all improved and they played attacking football. Although I can't say I have watched much of these teams I am surprised no one has mentioned the three obvious contenders from the championship. The managers at Sheff Wed, Huddersfield and Fulham have all done well on a shoestring while bringing in young players. As for Moyes, well I would much rather have Claude stay on than him. If you think the football was bad this year.....

4

redandwhitedee added 15:20 - May 23 The guy finished 8th, reached a cup final, kept several clean sheets often with a makeshift defence against the likes of Liverpool (4 times !), Man utd, Arsenal. Gave us many fantastic away days - Arsenal, Liverpool, sunderland, watford, Leicester (yes a 0-0 against the champions away is always a decent result especially when you follow up later by beating them 3-0 at home), WBA, Bournemouth, M'boro, West ham, even the cup final in defeat... Had the guts (unlike RK) to play very successfully young players the likes of Stephens - Sims (that run for shane long's winner.... !), and McQueen away in Italy - and finally we found a manager who was strong enough to recognise the importance that JWP can have if played consistently. Yes, most of you guys have very short memories i realise that, and it is of course about opinions and banter but some people need to get a grip and realise what can happen when one is too trigger-happy. Remember Chris Nicholl being replaced by Branfoot anyone (got slaughtered by fans yet gave us Le Tiss, Shearer, Wallaces etc..) ? Trust in the management team - yes - that also very much means Les Reed - who were instrumental in taking the club from ruin, to the point where 8th and a cup final is considered by some such a "disaster"

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abingdonsaint added 15:38 - May 23 As usual, some extraordinary (and hilarious!) comments on here. Anyone thinking that David Moyes or Roy Hodgson and the like anywhere near fit our profile has just not been paying attention for the last 8 years or so! And as for the suggestion that Eddie Howe has spent more money on players than us. Please! That's like saying an unemployed man using his overdraft to eat the spends more than a millionaire living in the south of France. Bournemouth have nobody the big clubs want, so have a fraction of our income. If Liverpool wanted one of their players, do you really think they could say no? They sold Ritchie to a Championship club......

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aceofthebase added 22:03 - May 24 Well said redandwhite
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